Gilbert & Sullivan: H.M.S.Pinafore

I really enjoyed this production. It has a different style to the later D'Oyly Carte productions but it still has a great enrgy & the best cast. Jean Hindmarsh is second only to Valerie Masterson as Josephine and John Reid is the only Sir Joseph Porter worth listening to. All in all it is a great recording but make sure you have the libereto to get the most out of the great dialogue

This recording is absolutely wonderful! Thomas Round portrays Ralph fantastically and John Reed is a fabulous Joseph Porter. I recommend this to any Gilbert and Sullivan lover and even those who aren't.
This recording is said and considered to be the best recording the D'Oyly Carte have done of any opera, and this certainly is true.

This is a very good performance of one of the most popular Savoy operas. The D'Oyly Carte opera company has been known for its added bits of "bussiness" and overacting, and this performance is not spared them; however, it is still quite serviceable.

The casting was admirably done. John Reed plays Sir Joseph with a pompous self-restraint I had not thought him capable of. Thomas Round is probably the best Ralph I've ever heard, and Jeffrey Skitch, as Captain Corcoran, does wonderful things with his solos. Donald Adams, though not the best Dick Deadeye I've encountered, does his usual enthusiastic job with a minimum (for him) of overacting. Gillian Knight is a loveable Buttercup. Jean Hindmarsh, as Josephine has a lovely voice for the part but I found her acting, when coupled with that of the other singers, to be somewhat lacking.

The performance is dotted with little bits of "bussiness"; a whips cracking at Buttercup's initial recitative, supposedly weilded by her. The act one finale contains the most bussiness out of the entire recording, mostly consisting of cheers and handclaps. I think the purpose might be to make the listener feel as if he were at an actual performance; however, when D'Oyly Carte tends to do this it does detract from the musical performance, at least in my opinion.

Overall, definately a worthwhile buy for the Gilbert and Sullivan fan. Slightly flawed, but true to the spirit of the thing.

This recording is wonderful! It has the complete dialogue, so you can listen to it and it sounds like you're actually at the theater. I thought the music was so good, I actually saw the operetta! Any G&S fan or non-fan will love this! I even listened to it with a friend who doesn't like opera, and she found it funny.

This is the best recording of H.M.S. Pinafore that I have ever heard. Jean Hindmarsh(as Josephine) has a superb voice. It is sung with ethusiasm and is fun to listen to(if not the easiest thing to sing to!) I would recomend this to any G&S lover.